Opposition turns to the province after a patient died in hospital without a doctor on the scene

Nova Scotia’s opposition parties are calling on the Houston government to make better “choices” after a patient at a hospital in Middleton, NS, died while the doctor on duty was not on scene.

Staff at Soldiers Memorial Hospital called 911 last Thursday after the patient went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics and volunteer firefighters performed CPR when they arrived, but the patient did not survive.

According to Darlene Davis, interim executive director of rural and community health for the health authority’s western zone, normal protocol is to call 911 at community hospitals when the doctor on duty is not on site.

NDP leader Claudia Chender said if that’s the case, the system has failed.

“So if you ask someone in this county, ‘should this be normal in our healthcare system?’ They would say ‘no.’ And if they do, that’s a problem,” she said.

Chender expressed her condolences to the family and called the circumstances “incredibly tragic.”

Soldiers Memorial’s emergency department has been operating at reduced hours for the past year due to a lack of doctors. Nova Scotia Health officials say it will take five to seven doctors to restore 24/7 service.

“Governing is about choices,” Chender said. “But I think this community has been very clear. And now it has suffered an avoidable tragedy that proves that attention needs to be paid to Soldiers Memorial Hospital and to keeping the emergency room open there.”

Liberal leader Zach Churchill also said he was shocked by the news.

“This seems to be extraordinary,” he said. “I have never heard of volunteer firefighters being called to a hospital to provide medical care.

“And this is a direct result of the Houston government closing emergency rooms in the Valley. This is a clear indication that emergency services are not available to people in those rural areas when they need them.”

Prime Minister Tim Houston previously told CBC News that he was awaiting further information on the case.

“We know there are challenges in healthcare,” he said. “We know there’s a lot of work to be done and no one wants to hear about adverse outcomes. It’s a heartbreaking story.”

‘Every hospital works a little differently’

But calling 911 when patients in a hospital need care isn’t as extraordinary as it may seem, according to Doctors Nova Scotia’s new president, Dr. Colin Audain.

He said he is fully aware of what happened and why, and offered his condolences to the family. He added that he is not fully aware of what the normal procedure for each hospital would be.

“Each hospital works a little differently,” he said. “I work in a tertiary care center where we have the benefit of residents and our emergency departments are open 24 hours a day. That is not always the case in every hospital.

“The healthcare system is under a lot of pressure right now and I think everyone is doing their best with limited resources.”

Audain said he doesn’t have all the context, but said it’s common practice — even in a busy hospital like the Victoria General — for health officials to call 911 in certain circumstances.

“If someone [had a heart attack] in the canteen, then that is the way to the best care for that patient, because the VG does not have an emergency department.”